Steel Sharpens Steel

K-os says that this is his favorite song on Can't Fly Without Gravity, the Canadian rapper's sixth album.

The title comes from a verse in the Bible: Proverbs 27:17, which states: "Iron sharpeneth iron; So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

In our interview with k-os, he explained: "It's a sentiment of a man and woman's relationship: 'steel sharpens steel' is another metaphor that you sharpen another knife with a knife. Just like steel sharpens steel, one person's wit sharpens another person's wit. So it's a positive look at two people who hang out, who are both strong people, but they make each other smarter."

This song has very interesting dynamics, blasting in with a barrage of guitars before dipping downtempo as k-os croons a quiet storm chorus:

I am still in love with you for alwaysAnd me pretending not to beIs just a game people play

Talking about this loud-quiet-loud model, K-os told us: "That song has very much of a two-faced element to it, where when you listen to the verses, it's guitars and it's like a motor just zesting after you. And then when you get to the chorus, there's this release, it's almost like Supertramp or Air Supply or something from '70s rock. Operatic a little bit. And then it goes right back into the hard stuff.

So that's why I love it: because it's hard to achieve that in a song. Usually if a song is going one way, it kind of forces you to stay in that personality. But if you can arrange it in the right way and if you're genuine in what you're trying to put across, you come across a musical situation, a musical landscape that allows you to explore the super-macho side of rock & roll, and also the super feminine side of rock & roll. Because I think everyone from Robert Plant to Mick Jagger to anyone that we've loved in rock had a macho side, but they also had a feminine side, too."

The lyrics to "Heartbreak Hotel" were written by a steel guitar player who was once a dishwasher repairman. He was inspired by a newspaper story about a man who killed himself and left behind a note saying only, "I walk a lonely street."

"Cruise" climbed from 6-5 on the Hot 100 in its 34th week. In doing so it set a record for the slowest ascent to the Top 5 in the chart's history, which was beaten by Imagine Dragon's "Radioactive" 42-week clamber to #4 three weeks later.